Tsukioka Yoshitoshi,
Courtesan with a pillow,
a hanging scroll painting

JapanEdo period, around
AD 1865-70

Painting of a beauty from the end of the Edo
period

In this strongly sensual painting by Tsukioka
Yoshitoshi (1839-92), a
courtesan
is shown undressing. Her flushed face is framed with a few stray
strands of hair. As she undresses, she turns, probably to look at
her client. She has already removed her vivid scarlet crepe silk
sash, and is drawing her arm from her right sleeve, while in her
left hand she holds a head-rest and
pillow.

This mood of sexual
excitement is visually enhanced by the pattern of dancing blue dots
of her tie-dyed kimono against the dizzy black diamond weave of the
sleeping mat. These in turn contrast with the unblemished skin of
her face and partially revealed bosom. The woman's hooked
nose and angular jutting jaw and chin are characteristic of faces
painted by Utagawa school artists including Yoshitoshi's
teacher, Kuniyoshi.